The 2014 budget calls for $201 million in operations ($110 million) and capital projects ($91 million). It does not include personnel pay increases.

The budget also calls for an ending balance in the general fund of 7.5 percent, or $3.4 million, which is $2.2 million less than in 2013.

During budget review meetings, Lau asked the city’s administration to devise a balanced budget that did not rely on funds carried over from 2013. The ill-fated proposal presented to the board was filled with rate increases and cuts to personnel.

Directors Green Light Transit Fare Hikes

Directors approved a request from the Fort Smith Transit Advisory Commission to raise fares in 2014.

The fixed-route service rate will rise from $1 to $1.25 per trip. Other changes include an increase from $2 to $2.50 per trip outside the fixed route during normal operating hours, and a $3 rate for the additional service before or after hours.

Transit Director Ken Savage said the fixed-route rates have not been adjusted since their creation in 1999.

According to the Transit Department, an additional $30,000 is expected annually from the increase. The transit service has been averaging about 200,000 riders a year since 2010.

Trail Designer Approved

A Fort Smith firm was tapped for design and engineering work on a $2 million public trail along the city’s riverfront.

In a 6-1 vote, Frontier Engineering Inc. was awarded a $156,000 contract for work on River West Trail, which is funded by a $1 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation, and a $1 million match from the city. The two-mile trail is expected to connect Harry E. Kelley Park and the Rice Carden Levee Trail.

Ward 4 Director George Catsavis questioned the cost, then later voted against the move.

"That seems awful high to me," he said.

Ward 2 Director Andre Good also expressed concern.

"Even though I’m going to vote for this, the amount does sound high," he said.

Parks Director Mike Alsup said the riverfront project calls for features not found in most city trails.

"Because of where it is along Riverfront Drive, it’s going to be a key component of the economic development and development of that area," Alsup said. "It’s going to be lit and will have some additional landscaping features that are not common to some of our trails."

Alsup anticipates construction, planned to begin in summer 2014, will take a year.

Eminent Domain Fails

In a 4-3 vote, directors defeated a proposal to use eminent domain to acquire property in the path of wet-weather sanitary upgrades.

Fort Smith Utilities Director Steve Parke asked directors to initiate the eminent domain process on a 3-acre tract of land at Navy Road and South Sixth Street to house a 3.5 million-gallon equalization tank related to long-planned — and federally mandated — improvements to the Mill Creek wastewater pump station.

An initial appraisal conducted on behalf of the city valued the property at $57,000. A second city appraisal valued the land at $66,000. An appraisal from the property’s owner, Steve Beam, valued the land at more than $200,000.

In August, Beam, who owns several businesses including Steve Beam Construction, said he purchased the "wooded hole in the ground" in 2005 for $24,250, then cleared it and filled it in. Ultimately, Beam said, he has at least $240,000 invested in the property.

Beam said he countered the city’s latest offer of $86,000 with $209,000. He told directors he would be willing to accept a price in the middle, "as opposed to going to the attorneys."

Parke said the pump station project will be bid in mid-December.

"At that time is when the city really needs to have possession of the property," Parke said.